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LOS ANGELES TIMES
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L.A. child-care industry in tailspin, hit with disruption as transition kindergarten grows |
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L.A.’s child-care industry sees big disruptions and uncertainties brought on by a dramatically shifting landscape. Enrollment is still down with no signs of a rebound. DIG Childhood Center in Mar Vista once had no problem filling all 36 of its slots with eager young learners, who romped barefoot in a play yard filled with vegetables, monarch butterflies and a small stream. Before the pandemic, there was even a wait list. But after a pandemic student exodus in 2020, the once-popular preschool has yet to recover. Enrollment is down to 22 students, with no signs of a rebound. This year, director Nina Moench said she’s losing seven students to transitional kindergarten, the state’s rapidly expanding new grade for 4-year-old public school children. Other families are moving out of state, pushed out by the rising cost of living in Los Angeles County. |
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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-24/child-care-industry-in-tailspin-as-transitional-kindergarten-expands |
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EDSOURCE
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Preliminary LAUSD test scores show recovery from pandemic learning loss |
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The Los Angeles Unified School District is showing signs of recovery from the learning losses it incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Tuesday at a press conference, following his Opening of Schools Address at The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. The preliminary scores for the California Smarter Balanced Assessments show that English proficiency increased from roughly 41% to 43% among LAUSD students. Meanwhile, district students’ math scores went up by more than 2% — reaching a 32.8% proficiency rate across the district, a spokesperson for LAUSD confirmed. The scores were first reported Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times. |
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https://edsource.org/2024/preliminary-lausd-test-scores-show-recovery-from-pandemic-learning-loss/716255 |
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LAUSD Superintendent Carvalho introduces 48 new initiatives for the upcoming school year |
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From creating a new Principal Academy to providing free eye care, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho unveiled several of the district’s 48 new initiatives for the coming academic year at Tuesday’s Opening of Schools Address at The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. “The cosmos are not bound by limits, just as our students are not bound by limits of what society thinks they can achieve,” Carvalho said Tuesday. “Our students will lead our schools. They will begin their journey toward their infinite possibilities.” |
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https://edsource.org/updates/lausd-superintendent-carvalho-introduces-48-new-initiatives-for-the-upcoming-school-year |
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NPR
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California forges ahead with social media rules despite legal barriers |
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California lawmakers are pursuing legislation aimed at protecting children from the dangers of social media, one of many efforts around the country to confront what U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and other public health experts say is a mental health emergency among young people. But California’s efforts, like those in other states, will likely face the same legal challenges that have thwarted previous legislative attempts to regulate social media. The tech industry has argued successfully that imposing rules regulating how social media operate and how people can use the online services violates the free speech rights of the companies and their customers. |
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https://www.capradio.org/articles/2024/07/24/california-forges-ahead-with-social-media-rules-despite-legal-barriers/ |
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CALmatters
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Frustrated by school web filters, one teenager created his own |
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Like most kids, Aahil Valliani has been frustrated by the filters that his school uses to block inappropriate websites. Often, he has no idea why certain sites are blocked, especially when his web browsing is tied to his schoolwork. Many students in this situation find a way around their districts’ web filters. They access the internet on their phones instead or use proxy servers or virtual private networks to essentially access a different, unfiltered internet. Aahil, searching for a more systemic solution, teamed up with his younger brother and father to start a company called Safe Kids, raise almost $2 million in venture funding, and design a better filter. |
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https://calmatters.org/education/2024/07/web-filter/ |
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OTHER NEWS OUTLETS
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UC Irvine's summer program preps girls for medical careers |
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Dozens of high school girls are getting a jump start in their medical careers by shadowing doctors and simulating surgeries thanks to a summer program hosted by the University of California Irvine. The Summer Health Experience (SHE) program welcomed 35 girls between the ages of 15 to 18 to learn more about working in medical facilities at the UCI Medical Center. Participants were selected out of more than 300 applicants for the week-long training. “I think the idea of saving others, whether it’s life or lifestyle, is just so valuable to me,” said Elyse Mills, who’s in the program.
The program is in its 10th year and was founded by Dr. Nimisha Parekh, a gastroenterologist whose inspiration to make a change in the medical field is what pushed her to create SHE.
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https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/uc-irvine-program-preps-girls-for-medical-careers/3467370/ |
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Unlikely ed allies join forces to cut chronic absenteeism in half by 2029 |
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Three high-profile education advocacy and research groups crossed political lines in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to announce an ambitious goal: cutting chronic absenteeism in half over the next five years. For the first time, the conservative American Enterprise Institute, the left-leaning Education Trust and the national nonprofit Attendance Works joined forces to confront an issue that continues to plague K-12 classrooms four years after the pandemic first hit. |
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https://www.laschoolreport.com/unlikely-ed-allies-join-forces-to-cut-chronic-absenteeism-in-half-by-2029/ |
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